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Europe's largest low cost airline, Ryanair, will enter the Bosnian market this year by introducing flights to Banja Luka. It comes following protracted talks with the government of the Entity of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The carrier will introduce two weekly services from Charleroi Airport in Belgium, each Monday and Friday, starting October 29, as well as from Memmingen in Germany from October 30, each Tuesday and Saturday. The Prime Minister of the entity, Željka Cvijanović, has said that "several additional destinations will also be launched" by the airline in the coming period. Tickets for the new routes are already available for purchase through the carrier's website.
Commenting on the new route, Ryanair’s Sales and Marketing Executive for Belgium, Helene Begasse, said, “We are pleased to announce a new Brussels Charleroi to Banja Luka route commencing this November. This new route marks Ryanair's entry into Bosnia and Herzegovina, and wi…

The world's largest carrier, American Airlines, is considering introducing seasonal flights to Dubrovnik. According to the "TangoSix" portal, the company is in talks with the airport over a seasonal service from Philadelphia. A decision on the matter is expected within the next month. American operates a number of seasonal flights to Europe from its Philadelphia hub including Athens, Barcelona, Budapest, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Lisbon, Prague, Shannon and Venice. This year, the airline expanded its reach from Philadelphia into Europe with seasonal flights to Budapest and Prague. Both are operated by its Boeing 767-300 aircraft. The move is seen as affirming American’s commitment to Philadelphia as a trans-Atlantic gateway.
Dubrovnik Airport has identified the United States and South Korea as two far-away markets which could sustain services to the coastal city. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, Dubrovnik Airport's General Manager, Frano Luetić, said, "These two far-…

Turkish fends off competition on EX-YU markets

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Turkish Airlines plans to strengthen its operations to the former Yugoslavia next year in face of increasing competition from rival airlines. The carrier, which has this year shown signs of financial recovery following geopolitical and security uncertainties on its home market, is aiming to boost frequencies rather than introduce new routes. “Currently there are no plans to add new destinations, but maybe in the future. Furthermore, increasing frequencies to points in the former Yugoslavia is being evaluated. The former Yugoslav market is important for Turkish Airlines, making a contribution to the airline’s global network”, the carrier told EX-YU Aviation News. Turkish Airlines has been rapidly expanding its operations in the region and is the only carrier serving all of the capital cities within the former Yugoslavia. It has also successfully outperformed all of EX-YU's national airlines, which have, over the past three years, suspended operations to Istanbul.

The Turkish carrier noted that it has seen its passenger numbers grow on the Croatian market this year and is encouraged by the performance of its Dubrovnik flights, which were launched last year. Over the summer, the airline boosted frequencies to Dubrovnik from seven to nine per week, while Croatia Airlines began codesharing on the route. Turkish said that it continues to handle a significant number of transfer passengers to and from Croatia, primarily to the Far East and the United States. This is despite increased competition from the likes of Emirates and Qatar Airways. Meanwhile, the carrier plans to add an additional two weekly services between Istanbul and Podgorica next year for a total of two daily flights.

Turkish's operations in Serbia are constricted by a stringent bilateral Air Service Agreement between the two nations, however, the carrier's General Manager for Serbia, Mehmet Alagoz, recently said, "We strongly believe in the significance of incoming tourism to Serbia. We invite tour operators to Belgrade and other parts of Serbia, encouraging them to organise group tours and we also support them to sell packages to Serbia". He added, "Turkish Cargo is an important sub-brand of Turkish Airlines. We listen to market demands and find solutions for the increasing needs of the market, as we want to be a stable partner in the countries we operate to. In 2014 Turkish Cargo launched its first scheduled freighter flight to Belgrade, and in 2016 to Niš. The launch of the Niš line is our response to the growing cargo transport demand in this region. Turkish Cargo operates to two destinations in the Balkans, both of which are in Serbia. I believe that many in the business sector will feel the positive effects from the launch of this service and that increased exports will provide a greater chance for Serbian products to access international markets".

Turkish Airlines has recently been linked to several other ventures in the region. The Macedonian government and the Turkish-run Skopje Airport have submitted a proposal for the carrier to launch transatlantic flights from the Macedonian capital, which is currently being evaluated. On the other hand, last year, the Turkish Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cihad Erginay, said Turkish Airlines is interested in launching flights to Mostar, investing in Sarajevo Airport and establishing the country's new national carrier in collaboration with the Bosnian government. However, these are yet to come to fruition. The Albanian government has also recently said it would establish a new national carrier in collaboration with Turkish Airlines.

I'm pretty sure they have the most transfers to the US from all ex-Yu markets. My friend regularly uses TK from Chicago to Podgorica and tells me there are quite a lot of yugos on the Chicago-Istanbul leg.

I will be Flying Ljubljana - New York with TK in November. I chose TK over Lufthansa and KLM because of the price but also because I simply wanted to try them out and I don't mind spending a few more hours flying. Air Serbia were slightly cheaper but I flew them already so wanted to try something new :)

- On departure airport I got no boarding pass for both flights, only to IST. After I requested BP to be issued for both flights they told me it would happen at the gate (?!)- At the gate they told me that I would get BP to AYT in IST (!?). After my insisting to speak with manager they "suddenly" managed to issue BP for second flight.

- they forgot stroller for baby at the gate - simply nobody put it on the plane to IST. Although it was later on delivered to our hotel we had to spend some time without stroller.

- Our luggage was damaged once we finally arrived to AYT

- on the way back the plane from AYT to IST was delayed due to bad weather in IST and we missed connecting flight from IST (it was not TK fault)

- As there were no more flight from IST on that evening we had to spend night at the airport. There was no organized accomodation alhough they saw our family with 2 small children.- As we had to spend night at the airport we asked at least for our luggage as the diapers for kids were there. After 3 hours of waiting they finally concluded they cannot locate where our luggage was and threw us out of the office where we were waiting. Fortunately, we managed at midnight to find still the place at the airport to buy some diapers.

- In the morning when we finally boarded the plane and arrived to final destination all our luggage was soaked as it was raining all night before (they didn't even bring it to the covered area but left it somewhere out)

Sure, the fare was about 470 euros return in economy. I booked about 5 weeks in advance, so not too soon. JU was slightly cheeper, around 455 euros but there was a 7-hour stopover in Belgrade on the return flight.Lufthansa, KLM and Air France were all too expensive (about 800 euros) for this period but it depends... sometimes you can find pretty good prices from Air France as well.

I think the bilateral between Serbia and Turkey limits the number of flights Turkish can have to Serbia to 2 per day (they used to have over 14 weekly flights to BEG a few years ago before the agreement was revised). I wonder if it also restricts aircraft type that can be used.

Well in that case and to save face, they can sign a waiver, valid for X period, at least lifting the capacity restrictions while continuing with current frequencies. That way they can promote the booming tourist arrivals into Serbia.

I agree. Although we don't know if their numbers were affected in Zagreb. Since they now fly to Dubrovnik for the entire year this has probably improved their overall performance since they started the flights in June last year I think

Regardless of them being the first in many respects and having one of the top 5 European hubs in Istanbul going for them, it is still darn impressive how well Turkish have been withstanding the growing and quite brutal competition from the Gulf carriers, on top of the traditional ones. Not to mention that they've had to deal with the political situation in Turkey and the EU governments issuing recommendations to avoid travel to/through Turkey. All in all...well done!

I recently flew with them from SKG to SFO and back from ORD. Their service is exceptional and professional, a lot of new planes, excellent IFE, Onboard wifi, excellent pilots. Plus their list of destinations is very long one, besides Australia. There are rumors that once they'll get either B787 or A350 they'll start Sydney, and surprisingly destination which is not served yet, Mexico City although they fly to Caracas/Havana nearby.

Just as most companies. Emirates denies interest in flights to region few days later they start flights to Zagreb. Etihad denies interest in Alitalia but bought share in it. Qatar denies negotiations about Meridiana but still bought share.

The only problem I have with TK is IST airport. It's far too small, always crowded and the staff are always so rude, genuinely a place I try avoiding. It's ironic since TAV have built some far superior airports in the ex-yu countries.

With the recent trouble in Turkey I think Turkish might be looking to Europe to make an investment into an airline. Perhaps a chance for Croatia Airlines or a new investment into a Bosnian national carrier?

Considering they have expressed interest in many ventures like Macedonian national airline, Macedonian TATL flights, Bosnian national airline, Albanian national airline, possible Croatia Airlines acquisition, I think it is safe to say they are interested in doing something in this region and are waiting for the right moment.

Turkey's national flag carrier carried 6.9 percent more passengers in the first nine months of 2017 compared to last year, setting a new record, the airline announced Monday.

Turkish Airlines carried 51.6 million passengers in January-September 2017, the company said in a statement.

Over the same period, the airlines' total passenger load factor, which is an airline industry metric that measures how much of an airline’s passenger carrying capacity is used, rose by 4.3 points to 79 percent.

The carrier carried 6.7 million passengers in September, up 13 percent compared to the same month last year.

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